1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic equipment and more particularly to item of electronic equipment whose console unit can be detached from its equipment body.
2. Background of the Invention
Recently, various items of car audio equipment designed to be mounted on automobiles, such as cassette players, CD (compact disc) players, and tuners, are commercially available on the market. A recent problem that such car audio equipment encounters is that the car audio equipment is stolen while the driver is away from the automobile.
To solve the above-mentioned problem, car audio equipment is composed of an equipment body and a console unit (operation unit) such that the console unit having a plurality of operation buttons for operating the electronic equipments can be detachably attached to the equipment body.
When the driver leaves the car, the driver detaches the operation unit and carries the same away from the car. Thus, the equipment body cannot work without the console unit. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the equipment body from being stolen.
Such car audio equipment having the detachable console unit includes an apparatus for attaching and detaching the console unit to and from the equipment body, such as an apparatus proposed by the same assignee of this application (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 5-149308 (JP-A-05 149309)).
However, in the attaching and detaching apparatus of the car audio equipment disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 5-149308, a release mechanism portion for detaching the console unit from the equipment body and a pop-up mechanism portion for projecting the console unit when the console unit is detached are constructed separately. As a result, since the release mechanism portion and the pop-up mechanism portion are independently arranged, the attaching and detaching apparatus becomes complicated in arrangement and increases in the number of assembly parts, which makes the apparatus expensive. As the number of assembly parts is increased, the apparatus becomes large in size on the whole. There is then the problem that the apparatus cannot be miniaturized.
Moreover, in the attaching and detaching apparatus, under the condition that the console unit is attached to the equipment body, the console unit is constantly applied with a load by the spring member so that, when a temperature in the car room rises, the console unit can be deformed thermally.